Common Characteristics of Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Sexually transmitted diseases (venereal diseases) are infections that are contracted through intimate
sexual contact. Once established, sexually transmitted diseases such as gonorrhea and syphilis can spread
and cause extensive, serious physical damage. It is important to make a doctor's appointment immediately
if you suspect that you have contracted--or have been exposed to--such an infection. If it is found that
you have been infected, you should abstain from sexual contact until your doctor tells you that you are no
longer contagious. You should also inform your sexual partners so that they can be examined and treated also,
whether or not they have symptoms.
Although gonorrhea and syphilis are the most serious of the sexually transmitted diseases, there are a number
of others that cause considerable discomfort or embarrassment. Venereal warts, for example, can be acutely painful.
Pubic lice (crab lice) cause intensive itching.
Gonorrhea
Gonorrhea is a bacterial infection, and an extremely contagious one. An estimated 2.5 million Americans contract
this disease annually.
The symptoms of gonorrhea usually appear within one to three weeks after infection. In men, these symptoms include
a white to yellow-green penile discharge, burning pain while urinating and deep, aching pain or pressure in the
genitals. In women, there may be painful and frequent urination, deep, aching pain in the lower abdomen and, rarely,
a vaginal discharge. Pharyngeal gonorrhea (in the mouth and throat) may produce a sore throat; rectal gonorrhea
occasionally causes discomfort in the area around the anus and a slight discharge. However, in 10 to 20 percent
of men and up to 80 percent of women, there are no perceived symptoms at all.
Untreated, gonorrhea commonly affects the urethra in men, making urination extremely painful and difficult; it may
progress to chronic obstruction and infertility. In women, the disease can attack the fallopian tubes and other pelvic
organs (pelvic inflammatory disease), causing pain, fever and, very likely, infertility. The risk of infertility increases
with each infection: 75 percent of women who have had three infections involving the pelvic organs are infertile.
In both sexes, untreated gonorrhea may result in arthritis, or in a generalized bacterial infection affecting the heart
and nervous system. If a woman has active gonorrhea at the time of delivery, her baby may develop permanent blindness.
